Topic: kyle seager; michael saunders; dustin ackley; yu darvish

Kyle Seager scores a go-ahead run on a Dustin Ackley single in the eighth. Seager also had the game-clinching double in the ninth after falling behind 0-2 against closer Joe Nathan. Photo Credit: AP

This was one of those matchups that, on paper, really shouldn’t have been that close. You had Cy Young Award contender Yu Darvish, who has been striking out guys left and right of late, taking on “Mr. Five Innings” Erasmo Ramirez and a Mariners lineup not exactly stacked with big bat threats.

But the Mariners kept poking away at the Rangers, who also allowed Seattle to hang around by making some defensive gaffes as well as offensive ones on the bases. The result was, the Mariners were still alive and kicking by the eighth and ninth innings, scoring in each of those — including the decisive marker on a Kyle Seager double to right.

The Seager at-bat was typical of his team’s approach as a whole on this day. He was down 0-2 early on, but kept staying alive and eventually prevailed.

“When you get down 0-2 against a guy like him, you pretty much just have to calm down,’’ Seager said of Darvish. “You can’t let his good stuff and everything get you over-excited. That’s what he kind of feasts on. You’ve just got to stay calm, stay with you approach and look for a pitch you can hit.’’